Maharashtra SIR: 2.07 crore voters dropped from draft electoral rolls

Mumbai: As many as 2.07 crore voters have been excluded from Maharashtra's draft electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with 83 per cent of the deletions attributed to reasons other than death, including migration and untraceability.

According to Marathi media reports, the largest numbers of those excluded belonged to communities identified by surnames such as Shaikh (7.54 lakh), Patil (4.84 lakh), Khan (3.69 lakh) and Pawar (2.75 lakh).

An analysis by public policy research organisation Sabar Institute found that in 190 of Maharashtra's 288 Assembly constituencies, the number of voters removed from the rolls exceeded the winning margins recorded in the previous Assembly election.

The findings have emerged amid continuing questions over the unusually high number of votes recorded after polling hours during the 2024 Assembly election, which delivered a massive victory to the BJP-led alliance.

The deletions have been particularly significant in Mumbai, where nearly one-third of voters have been removed from the rolls. In Colaba constituency, represented by BJP legislator and Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, around 1.2 lakh voters were deleted, exceeding the total number of votes polled in the constituency during the last Assembly election.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India said it had directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to provide another opportunity for excluded voters to get their names reinstated. It also clarified that the published list was only a draft and not the final electoral roll.